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Forum:Pay Differential: Plant Operations/Biomedical Engineering
Hi Mark, Glad to hear that you have joined a union. I too am in a Union as a Biomed. We however have different pay grades for Biomeds and Stationery Eng and also have different pay scale within the Biomed shop too. As a Union member and a union elected offical at my hospital I suggest you set up a meeting with the Union rep for your hosptital to present the issue that you have stated in your e-mail. Even in your stationery engineers group there must be different levels of experience and work level. A plumbers helper won't make what a plumber will etc. While it's nice to have a conservation with union mates about differences it is not necessary. You may want to also get active in the Union and try to get on the next contract committee. In a union shop pay scale is usually set in a contract but you can have different titles. Biomed tech, Sr Biomed tech, Biomed Eng etc. Good luck John My Esteemed Colleagues, I am looking for guidance. I work for a small rural hospital in Northern California. We have recently been “incorporated” into Local 39 of International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) and I find myself in a difficult situation. How do I explain to my co-workers, the Stationary Engineers why “our” union should argue for a higher pay scale for the “Biomedical Electronics Engineers” over the “Stationary Engineers”? I have “worked with” some of these guys for over 10 years and have great respect for both their job and their abilities. However, I am of a strong opinion that Biomedical Electronics Engineers and Stationary Engineers are not positions with similar duties, expectations, and requirements. Therefore, the pay should reflect such differences. At a large facility, this would not likely be much of a question, as Plant Operations and Biomedical Engineering would be separate departments answering to different administrators. However, at our small facility we only have three management layers; Senior Management (President, VP, Directors), Managers, and everybody else. With the introduction of Local 39 Union the line between Plant Operations and Biomedical Engineering has all but disappeared; along with any real pay differential. Stationary Engineers have very significant duties, which require training and specialized knowledge to perform; I in no way intend to minimize their position. I also believe I can justify that the duties of a BMET require a substantially larger and broader level of training and specialized knowledge; that a BMET is expected to exercise a greater degree of independence and required to interact in a professional manner with every clinical department in the facility. Given the greater duties, expectations, and requirements I believe there should be a significant difference in pay scales. The guidance I seek is how to start this conversation with my “union-mates” without insulting and totally alienating my friends. I believe they respect my knowledge and abilities, as they seem to often come to me seeking information and advice. I am just as sure that the facility work is every bit as valuable as is the biomedical work. However, I see a real difference in the accomplishment of these jobs and fell there should be a commensurate difference in pay for these jobs. Any comments, advice or discussion would be greatly appreciated. Respectfully, Mark Fountain, CBET Thanks for the post Mark I also work in a small shop that is managed by B&G, but we are not union. Could you do some research on average salaries and present that data? Jandkcompton 12:35, 7 April 2008 (UTC) -------- I work in a hospital in Western Washington State where both Biomed and Facilities are members of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). Until recently, our small Biomed department answered to Facilities. Now we are under Information Technology, and our needs are better met. It has always been a struggle during union negotiations. Any time Biomed would ask for something it would get voted down by 23+ Facilities members vs. 5 Biomed members. This year we finally got extra compensation for Biomed certification (CBET), and standby pay. Biomed does have a higher pay scale than Facilities, and some of them complain about it. I believe the best way to justify rate of pay (for any job) is to compare to the local market. Get facts & figures from other nearby Biomeds and use that as your platform. Both the union and the hospital will see that if they don't compete with the surrounding market, you may be tempted to go to work elsewhere. For the union it's easier (less work) to keep everyone in the same payscale. They collect dues weather they are working hard for you or not. We've had some terrible union reps in the past, but finally have someone who is getting the job done. I'm not pro-union, but I do like our new rep. Jared -------